Items tagged with billing

It's been a long time coming, but at least, in-app subscriptions have arrived on the Google side of things. Apple's own iOS App Store has supported in-app subscriptions for quite some time, and starting this week, Google Play users can say "yep, same here!" If you aren't familiar with in-app subscriptions, it allows devs to offer apps for free, and then once you're in, they can charge for upgrades and other things, but on a recurring basis. It's a unique business model, and we're sure that Android developers will be thrilled to hear the news. In-app billing has been on Google Play for over a year,...Read more...

With the proposed T-Mobile/AT&T merger likely to conclude within a year, it's tough to predict which of AT&T's policies will stick, and which of T-Mobile's will hang around. Will Wi-Fi calling exist post-merger? Will direct carrier billing carry over? That's the latest initiative unveiled by the company, extending it to digital content and services. The initiative is described as a nationwide purchasing program to provide customers the convenience of securely purchasing digital content and services from their web-enabled device. With Direct Carrier Billing, T-Mobile customers can charge...Read more...

A couple of other U.S. carriers have had this option for some time now, but Sprint remained outside of the "Android Carrier Billing" loop. Until this week! Based on a report over at Android Developers, Direct Carrier Billing is now in place for Sprint users, which allows people to bill their Android Market purchases to their Sprint bill, making for one less thing to worry about paying. T-Mobile USA and AT&T gained this functionality last year, and a trifecta of Japanese carriers have it already as well. It's currently being rolled out to all Sprint users, so not everyone will have access immediately....Read more...

As wireless carries wrestle with how to integrate tablets into their data consumption schemes, AT&T this week introduced new postpaid billing options for slates. Effective immediately, AT&T subscribers have the option of choosing between the new postpaid pricing or sticking with prepaid billing. The charges are effectively the same either way, with both postpaid and prepaid running $14.99 for 250MB or $25 for 2GB. However, customers on the 2GB postpaid plan who go over their monthly data allotment will be charged $10 per 1GB, while those enlisting for the prepaid model will be charged $25...Read more...

Have you ever opened up your cell phone bill, only to drop it immediately in shock of the huge numbers you see? You aren't alone. Particularly in a world of smartphones, texting overages, and global roaming, it's not too difficult to spend more than you expected on mobile costs. To date, carrier's aren't required to give consumers a "heads-up" when they're about to go over their allotted minutes, texts messages, or data plan, so the bill simply comes with huge figures rather than a warning a few weeks earlier. A New York Times report has found that the "Federal Communications Commission will propose...Read more...